A soldier checks temperature of a man who is placed in quarantine. Quarantined cases in Vietnam are being given free-of-charge essential items for their daily activities in isolation wards - PHOTO: VNA

HCMC – People infected with the new coronavirus in Vietnam have been covered by the health insurance fund, while quarantined cases are being given free-of-charge essential items for their daily activities in isolation wards.

Nguyen Nam Lien, head of the Health Ministry’s Planning-Finance Department, confirmed that Covid-19 sufferers in the country will be treated for free, reported Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper.

If test results are negative, the cost of the tests is covered by health insurance, he remarked.

According to Le Van Phuc, a Vietnam Social Security official, the health insurance fund covers the entire medical bill for people who get checkups after developing symptoms such as fever, cough and shortness of breath and then test negative for the virus.

If people are confirmed to have caught the flu-like virus and need extra treatment, their treatment and test fees will be covered by the State budget, Phuc added.

Further, people will not be charged for medical fees when they undergo mandatory quarantine at healthcare centers, border gates and other isolation facilities. They will also be transported to isolation wards for free and receive free drinking water, towels, face masks, hand sanitizers, mouthwash and other daily necessities, according to the Finance Ministry’s Circular 32/2012.

Regarding food at isolation wards, quarantined people will be offered meals at their request, but these should be appropriate to the capacity of each isolation facility, and these individuals will have to pay for the meals. Poor people will have meals subsidized by VND40,000 per day during their quarantine period.

However, most of the isolation facilities nationwide such as military schools and camps have used their own budgets or their localities’ funds to prepare high-quality meals for the quarantined.

Meanwhile, in some countries, people sickened by the new coronavirus face high fees for medical treatment.

A woman living in Denver, the capital city of the U.S. state of Colorado, had to pay a medical bill of US$4,500 for Covid-19 testing after she showed signs of influenza. In Singapore, foreign coronavirus patients are offered free Covid-19 testing but have to pay US$4,300-US$5,800 for the treatment.